Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe April Monthly Meeting

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe held their monthly meeting for the month of April, on Saturday the 7th. The meeting began at 10 am with a call to order. There was a quick review of previous action items.

Previous Action Items:

a) Tribal Council to report on March Tribal meeting motion from the floor for Tribal Council to enact an investigation (fact finding) and evaluation of the correlation and relationship between the original Elders Benefit Group and the anonymous propaganda, which is in direct contradiction to the benefit to elders. – Work in Progress.

b) Request for a report at April Tribal meeting on how much the investigation is costing in reference to the March 2017 Action Item. This is information exempt from disclosure, in accordance with the Tribal Procedures Act, under Section XL 3. B, c, and f.

c) Request for analysis of the correlation of Native board members on the Salmon River Central School District Board of Education and the quality of education our students receive – Work in Progress.

d) Request for Tribal Council to meet with Director of Education to discuss representation on the Massena Central School District Board of Education – Work in Progress.

Next on the agenda - Announcements

a) Tribal Clerk announcement – Elders aged 68 and over are no longer required to pay the fee for renewing Tribal ID.

b) Fishing Regulation and 2018 Season by Compliance – Non-members will now have the option to purchase a 3-day permit for $15, a season pass for $40 or by hiring a Registered Tour Guide.

Next on the agenda – Environment Presentation-

Environment Division informed the community members that the Emerald Ash Borer is now confirmed to be in Akwesasne. They will have a map set up in the tribal lobby for community members to leave their contact information and area and if they are willing to sacrifice a tree to help them identify if the EAB is present in their area. The names of residents who offer a tree to be “girdled” will be put into a draw to win a new tree, planted, and cared for by the Environment Division for the first year.

Q. A community member asked “Will girdling kill the tree?”

A: Yes, once the tree is girdled it will die.

Next on the agenda – Roads Update by Planning and Infrastructure-

A quick overview of which roads are going to be fixed this year, and the roads that are in the process of being approved to be fixed. Roads that are planned to be repaired and upgraded are: Business Park Road, River Road, Cook Farm Road, Helena Road, Frogtown Road, Tarbell Road and Beaver Meadow Road. These roads are in different phases of construction from bidding to planning and contract design.

Next on the Agenda – Presentation by Salmon River Central School District Board of Education Members-

The Board of Education Members informed the community members that the vote for the upcoming elections of the Board members will be held at the Saint Regis Mohawk School for the first time in 60 years. This is a pretty significant accomplishment.

The SRCS annual vote will be held May 15th at the Saint Regis Mohawk School from 12 pm to 8 pm.

Next on the agenda – New Business –

Community members asked:

Q: Senior Program- what criteria is needed to meet to receive the Senior Benefit?

A: No change has been reported.

Q: ‘You can’t’ disclose the amount that is being used for investigation, why?’

A: I don’t have the answer, we will fully disclose the amount when investigation is finalized.

Q: ‘What amount was set aside for investigation?’

A: Approximately $3,000 - $3,500.

Q: ‘Which investigation?’

A: The investigation into 3 anonymous letters that were written.

Q: ‘I heard that Kevin Fisk, who was excluded from our territory in the 90’s during the road blocks for police brutality. Sugar Montour was going to tell how he (Kevin Fisk) broke his back. He is being brought back into our territory. A W5 article was written on Dark Horse (Kevin Fisk) was possibly behind it. He needs to be kept out of our business.’

A: We will look into that.

Next on agenda – Review of Action items -

The meeting adjourned at 12:35 pm.